Casting Stars
by superncisfan039
Summary: Things aren't as they seem when an old agent is tied to a murder. Everyone has their secrets, some darker than others. As the real mastermind behind Gibbs' kidnapping begins to set a new plan into action, a dark and mysterious man tries to stop him. Some secrets are too dark to hold. Will the team survive? Book 3 in Parker Series. Lots of Tiva, old minor character appearance.
1. Chapter 1

Christina sat down at her desk. She played with the diamond ring on her left hand as she turned her computer on. It had been two weeks since she found out she was pregnant. She had just gotten back from taking a week's vacation in LA. She, her father, Gibbs, and her daughter, Tali, had visited her now fiancé, Callen, who also worked for NCIS. Christina looked at the three pictures on her desk. The first was an old picture of her and Callen from back when she worked with the CIA. The second was the most recent school picture of Tali. The third was one she had taken years ago of Gibbs, Shannon, and Kelly. She leaned back in her chair. McGee was typing away at his computer. Tony and Ziva had just walked in.

"Hey there, Christina," Tony welcomed. "How was LA?" Christina smiled. LA had been a dream. The only down part was having dinner with her aunt and uncle, Sara and Grant. Gibbs had talked her into calling them. She would never want to again.

"It was nice. I had a good time," Christina said. Ziva already knew about Callen's proposal. She also knew about the baby. It was something Christina was still having trouble believing. Callen had assured Christina, though, that they were going to get through this together. He was finally getting a family, something he never really had.

"That's good," Tony replied. He sat at his desk and just watched Ziva.

Tony couldn't believe it when Ziva had called him up over the weekend. Still, he wasn't going to complain. Their secret relationship was the best thing Tony had ever known. He knew he would continue to treasure it. "Grab your bags," Gibbs said as he walked into the room. Dragged out his thoughts, Tony looked up. Things were getting back to normal, just how Tony liked it.

"Where to, Boss?" Tony asked.

"A Navy officer was found down town," Gibbs explained shortly. Tony grabbed his bag, phone, and sunglasses. He took another glance at Ziva. She was his third female partner. Kate Todd had been killed, and Viv Blackadder was a mystery. Tony had Viv on his mind as of late. He didn't know why. He hadn't thought about her in years. He almost hated her, actually. She had made a huge mistake with NCIS. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to her. He just couldn't shake his thoughts.

Christina sat in the van next to McGee and Ziva. She was rather lost in thought. Still tired from getting in late last night, she leaned against the window and closed her eyes. Tony was talking about some movie he saw over the weekend, and Gibbs was telling him to stop. Finally they approached the warehouse where the body of a young Lieutenant, Kayla Clark, was. Christina put her hat on and made sure her badge was showing. The early November wind was a bit too chilly for Christina's liking. She grew up in warmer areas, including in California. She already missed it there, and it hadn't even been a day yet. With a sigh, she grabbed some gear and followed Gibbs into the warehouse.

Tony began to process the scene. He was beginning to see that Christina was a really quiet person. She was laid back, a more relaxed version of Gibbs, in a feminine way. Maybe it was her slight resemblance to Viv that had Tony's mind going as it was. She had the curl like waves that Viv did. The body in questioned caught Tony's eye once more. She was young. She was also definitely a rape victim, which was seen by the tears in her shirt. Tony looked away, this guy had known what he was doing. He began searching for a next of kin on his phone.

Gibbs looked at the body as Ducky worked on a time of death. Something wasn't right. This was too calculated. This guy had done this before. He noticed a small piece of paper by the woman's right arm. After taking a picture, he picked it up. It was a phone number. He gave it to Tony to call.

Tony called the number Gibbs handed him. He had a bad feeling about this, as the last time this happened the man ended up being the killer. Still, he dialed the number anyways. He hated the answer. "Hello?" a female voice answered. Tony's heart dropped. Why? Tony silently swore because he knew that voice.


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets

"Viv?" Tony asked. He hoped the voice would say no, but he knew he wouldn't get that lucky.

"Tony, how in the world did you get this number?" Viv answered. Great, the victim knew the one person Tony never wanted to see again.

"Gibbs found it on a murder victim. Perhaps you know her. Her name is Kayla Clark," Tony said back.

"She's a friend of mine," Viv said.

"Gibbs'll want you to come down to the Navy Yard, but you probably could guess that," Tony explained. "You know where it is." He hung up the phone and turned to Gibbs. "The number belongs to Viv, Boss. I have her coming in. She was friends with the victim."

Vivian Blackadder. She was the last person Gibbs wanted to see, let alone ever hear the name of, least of all during a murder investigation. Oh, how he wished he was back in LA on the ocean waves right now! The vacation wasn't long enough, not for him. He looked down to Ducky. No one wanted to hear Viv's name, at least those who knew her. Gibbs swore under his breath. "Let's finish up here quick. I want to be there when she walks through that door," Gibbs ordered.

Christina had to admit: She was a bit confused. She looked to Ziva and McGee. Both of them seemed confused as well. So whoever this Viv was, Tony, Gibbs, and Ducky were the only ones who knew her. She went back to work on the crime scene.

Across town, Richard Parsons sat across from Greg Correr. He looked at the file on the table. "You may have been a bit careless, Correr," Richard remarked. He had a list of things to do, some regarding Leroy Jethro Gibbs, and the last place he wanted to be was with one of his men. Still, he had to be the one to represent Correr in court.

"I know. You may be messing with the wrong people, though. There are two Gibbs to worry about," Correr explained. This was news to Parsons. He hadn't heard of another Gibbs as of yet. He perked up.

"What are you saying, Greg?"

"He's got a kid, Christina. She's a force of her own, a piece of work. You'd better watch out, 'cause she'll get you," Greg explained. This could ruin his plans. "This is her file. I tried to capture her kid. Things didn't work out. I'm warning you. This girl is something. Even Haswari fell for her." There was a name Parsons had tried to forget. Ari Haswari could have ruined everything. He was the only one outside of Richard's men who knew about this operation.

"So the bad boy had a heart after all," Parsons remarked. Greg nodded.

"He was in love."

"She'll probably find it, Correr," Parsons said, hinting at the files Ari took years ago. This went higher than they thought, and Parsons was going to use that to his advantage.

"She saved him back in San Diego. She may know more than she thinks she does." Parsons agreed. If Ari was sleeping with her, this Christina did know something more than she thought. He only hoped she didn't figure it out.

Tony watched as Viv walked in to the Squad Room. After all these years she still looked the same. Tony sighed. This wasn't going to be fun. "I'd say it's been too long, but it hasn't been long enough," he spat as she stopped in front his desk. Viv just smiled. He wished he had the excuse to shoot her.

"Come on, Tony, can you be a bit nice?" she asked with a laugh. Ziva stood behind her.

"That'd be quite a day," the Israeli beauty remarked. She'd find some excuse to shoot the woman. It was just part of her charm.

"Ah, you must be my replacement," Viv welcomed. Tony was going to be sick.

"Actually, she's your replacement's replacement," Tony explained. He looked up at Ziva. The weekend played through his mind.

Gibbs stormed into the room. There stood Viv. Let the torture begin, he thought. He set his coffee down on his desk, and thought of all he'd give to be anywhere else right now. "Viv, meet me in the conference room," he ordered. He looked to his team. Everyone was working, just as he wanted. He took his coffee and followed the way Viv went.

"Who is she?" Christina asked, trying to find out if there were other murders like this one. Gibbs seemed to hate the woman who just walked away, as did Tony. She looked up to find Abby.

"Is she really here?" Abby asked. Tony nodded. "Great. I really don't want to see her. Don't send her near me," Abby said. OK, if Abby hated the woman too, she had to have really messed up.

"By the way," Tony said as Abby walked away, "that was Vivian Blackadder. She used NCIS as a way to get revenge."

"I can see why my father hates her," Christina remarked. Now things made a little more sense. She leaned back in her chair. She had to get up early for work, as well as to get Tali ready for school. Over vacation, Tali learned that her father wasn't one of the good guys. Christina hoped that Tali would be okay.

"Why do you have to be the one whose number was found on my victim?" Gibbs questioned. Viv slouched in her seat. Neither of them wanted to be in the room. Tension began to build.

"I don't know, Gibbs," Viv answered. Hostile. Gibbs tried to ignore it.

"Where were you last night then?" Gibbs asked.

"I was on a date. I do have a life outside of work," Viv shot back. Gibbs wanted to shoot her.

"I'm surprised the FBI took you back. Explain how you knew the victim," Gibbs said.

Christina and McGee had gone to see Abby, so Ziva and Tony were alone. Ziva watched Tony as he worked. Everything had happened so quickly. She tilted her head. She was in love. She didn't know how or win it happened. She only knew it had, and that's all that mattered to her. She let her thoughts wander. What if Gibbs ever found out about this? It was a thought that she couldn't shake. She knew the rules. She also knew how Gibbs handled them. If he ever found out about her and Tony, she was sure to lose her job. She knew, though, that there were darker secrets she held that would ruin the trust she had with Gibbs.

Parsons walked into his office. A tall man with tan skin leaned against his desk. His icy brown eyes were locked on Parsons. "You are making a bad decision, Richard," the man said in an Israeli accent. Who was the man? What bad decision was Parsons making?

Christina walked back into the Squad Room. She and McGee hadn't found anything with Abby. She sat at her desk and opened the top drawer. Ari's leather bound journal sat on top. She had already read through it, and was now working on translating it in a notebook. He made sure to capture every last detail, every last thought. It was something that she just loved.

The man walked out of the Parsons' office, putting on his sunglasses. He had been on the run for years. He had no identity, as it was taken from him years ago. He was a shadow in the game of cat and mouse, knowing every last play, ever y last move. He knew what was coming. He had to keep them safe. He would never be able to go on if something happened to them, to her. He continued walking. He knew Parsons' plan. He wanted her to die. The man was going to keep that from happening.

Gibbs reentered the Squad Room. Everyone was busy working. He hoped they had something. No one said anything. He sat at his desk and sighed. He had gotten nowhere with Viv. Still, something just didn't seem right. Gibbs just couldn't place it.

**A/N: Secrets, suspension, Tiva, and a mystery man. What else do we need? BTW, we will be bringing in that lack of plot from Shadowed Past in this book. Who is the man? You have to wait and find out! Keep posting reviews. This will be one of the most suspenseful so far, and will have a lot of twists, some only starting...**


	3. Chapter 3: Knife and Stab

"So we pretty much have nothing, Boss," Tony commented. Ziva sighed. She hated when they didn't have anything. She looked at her phone. She had a new text. Great, she thought, now she had to find a way to sneak out. Thankfully, Gibbs decided to take Christina to interview the victim's family.

"I will be back in a bit, Tony. Watch my calls," Ziva said. She had to go now. Some things just couldn't wait, and this was one of them.

"Ok then," Tony assured her. Ziva grabbed her wallet and phone. The café was only down the street, thankfully. She saw the man sitting underneath one of the umbrellas outside. She took the seat across from him.

"She is well, then?" the man asked. Ziva nodded. She had so many secrets. "She may not be for long. This case will go deeper than you think. It will be used to show his weaknesses. You must see through the ruse," he explained.

"You always talk in riddles now. You are not the same," Ziva commented. This was a man she had known for longer than she can remember. She had to trust him all the same. "I will try to, though some more information would be useful."

"Shalom," the man said, leaving. A file sat on the table. Ziva recognized the name: Richard Parsons.

Christina had read a name in one of Ari's files before leaving with Gibbs to talk to Clark's family. She had been looking for more information on what Greg Correr, the man who kidnapped Tali weeks before, was involved with. Parsons. Who was the man? She had to ask her father. "I came across a name in Ari's files. The name is 'Parsons'. Do you know him?"

Gibbs almost stopped the car. Richard Parsons was involved with Correr. Of everything he had wanted to hear, this even beat hearing Viv's name. He could see it being possible though. "Yeah, I have. The man nearly arrested me months ago. So Ari knew about him?" he replied. He was just starting to wrap his mind around his daughter once loving the man he hated so much.

"He did. There was a reference to a file on Parsons. It's missing," Christina said. That got Gibbs thinking. What was really going on?

Ziva walked back into the Squad Room, reading through the file. It was all on Richard Parsons, a man she wanted dead. She set it down on Tony's desk. "I do not want you to ask how I got this, Tony. He may be behind this," Ziva explained. The file had enough information. She watched Vance walk down.

"Has your friend provided you with something, Agent David?" Vance asked. Ziva nodded firmly. He also knew of the secret. They were the last two living people who knew. "I want to see it." She handed the Director the file.

"What's going on? What friend?" Tony asked. He and McGee both stood. They wanted the same knowledge, knowledge Ziva wasn't going to give.

"I cannot explain, not yet. All I can say is that I have a friend who knows more than we do about some things. This is one of them," Ziva answered. "Gibbs needs to see this file."

"He will when he gets back, Ziva. Right now I need you to thank that friend of yours for helping us out again. He's really been coming in handy lately," Vance explained. Ziva went to send the text.

Tony knew Ziva was hiding something. Vance knew what it was, which only made Tony want to know it more. There had to be some way to find out. He would look through her phone the next time he had a chance. He didn't like her secrets, or her randomly leaving while they were working on the case. The last time ended up with a man dead by Tony's hand. He didn't want that to happen again. He wanted to trust Ziva now that they were together. It was all he wanted.

Parsons knew the man knew of the operation. Who would know that information though? He could only think of one person, and that person had been killed years ago. That was one of the things Parsons wanted to hold against Gibbs. Still, as things were, Haswari would be one to fake a death. Gibbs would also be one to hide information surrounding the death. No, he was just being paranoid. Ari Haswari was dead, wasn't he?

Gibbs was handed a file as soon as he walked into the Squad Room. "Read it," Vance told him. Gibbs looked at the name on the file. His heart dropped. Richard Parsons. It was the missing file. How did Vance get the missing file?

Christina looked at the file in her father's hand. Some of it was hand written. She couldn't make out the words, but she now knew that handwriting better than her own. Her phone rang. "Hello?"

"I have information on your case," Greg Correr said. "Go to the warehouse again. A friend with information will be there." Then he hung up. Christina turned to Gibbs.

"Correr called. He said someone who could help would be at the warehouse," Christina explained. Gibbs set the file down on his desk. They both knew it was a trap. They had to be prepared.

**A/N: This story will be shorter, but I warn you there will be so much to take in. Like, you may want to reread it when you finish. Everything will then make sense later on. **


	4. Chapter 4: Hold Your Breath

Christina readied her gun. Gibbs and McGee sat in the car with her. Tony and Ziva had taken another one. She played with her ring a bit more. They pulled up to the warehouse. Christina got out first. She held her gun in front of her and walked to the second floor. A man stood in the center of the room.

The man hid in the shadows. He watched Christina walk in. No one knew he was there. He had to protect her. He would do anything for her. He raised his gun in preparation.

"It's about time," the figure said. Christina took a deep breath.

"You said you had information on my case," Christina said.

"Yes I do."

"Do you plan to share?" Christina asked. Silence. The man raised a gun. She raised hers and prayed backup would come.

Parsons relaxed. By the end of the hour, Christina would be dead, and his problem would be gone. He didn't care what the man had said. He didn't know who the man was. He wasn't going to let that bother him though.

"You don't want to do this," Christina warned. Her heart was racing.

"I think I do," the man said. "I had fun with the last one. I'll have fun with you too." She knew what happened to Clark. Now she was freaking out. Where was the team? The man prepared to shoot, but a bullet came out of nowhere, hitting him straight in the forehead. Christina, startled, turned around to see another man coming out from the shadows. He rushed right up to her, slowly lowering his gun.

"Do not speak a word," the man said. He pulled Christina close and kissed her. It all felt so familiar to Christina, like a dream of a long lost memory. She put an arm around his neck. Nothing seemed real; nothing seemed right. He pulled back slightly. "I will be watching," he whispered breathlessly. Christina watched as he disappeared into the shadows. Gibbs and Tony ran up behind Christina. It couldn't be. That couldn't have just happened.

"What happened?" Gibbs questioned. Christina turned to him, escaping from her thoughts. She tried to find the words.

"I honestly don't know. It all seems like a dream," she said, her voice trailing. "Someone else shot the guy."

"Who?" Christina only had a guess. Still, there was no way it could be what she thought. Wasn't there? Christina didn't know.

"I wish I knew, because he kissed me," Christina said.

He had overstepped his bounds. He shouldn't have kissed her. He shouldn't have gone to her. He couldn't help it. He had wanted to do that for so long. He just lost control of himself. Not again, he told himself. He wasn't going to put everything at risk, put her at risk. He walked away from the warehouse. He had ditched the gun. He had to tell Ziva what happened.

Ziva sat across from Christina. The team had gone to Gibbs' cabin to talk over things. Ziva held all the secrets. They knew that. She couldn't hide it anymore. No one said a word. "How did you get Ari's missing file?" Gibbs questioned Ziva. "Who gave it to you?"

"A friend gave it to me," Ziva said. "He's helped out before. He was the one to post the one thing that saved you, that showed us what had happened. He post that security footage." It was all true.

"Who is your friend, Ziva?" Ziva looked to Christina. There was a knock on the door. Was he an idiot? Ziva knew who it was. He was getting gutsy as of lately. Gibbs opened the door. Then everyone wished he hadn't.


	5. Chapter 5: Return

"I am Ziva's friend," the man in the doorway said. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't. Christina knew him. Still, it didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. He couldn't be standing there. Tony stood up, a fist balled.

"Ari?" Christina exclaimed. "How in the world?" She then stood up and slapped him across the face.

"I deserve that. I am through lying. There are not enough words to use to say how sorry I am," Ari apologized. Tears began to roll down Christina's cheeks, half out of anger and frustration, and half out of an overload of information. "I am also sorry to you, Gibbs, though I know you will never forgive me." Christina sat back down. Everything was crashing around her.

"I told you not to come," Ziva said. Christina looked up. Gibbs hadn't moved. Ari hadn't changed. Even after eight years he looked the same. He ran a hand through his hair.

"I will not sit by anymore. I understand any hatred in this room. I still wish to help in any way I can. I may be the only way to stop Parsons," Ari explained. The sun was setting behind him. Christina was falling again. No, she had to stop herself.

"I need some time alone with Ziva," Gibbs said. "The rest of you go. I'll see you tomorrow." Christina stood and followed after Ari.

"Ari, wait," she said, grabbing his arm. "I just wanted to say that I'm willing to look past everything if you can tell me what in the world is going on. I don't understand this." Ari pushed her hair back.

"You always have looked so beautiful in the sunlight. I cannot explain everything here. I do owe you that much, however. We should head back to my apartment. I can explain it there," Ari said.

"I should tell you I'm with Callen now. Just let me take care of something," Christina said. In the heat of the moment, she wanted to be with Ari, but her conscience said something else. She texted Meg to keep Tali for the night. "Let's go then." They went to her car.

"I had to fake my death. I want you to know that. It was for you, and for our child. I've been keeping an eye on you for a while now. I wanted only the best the world had for you. That is not me," Ari explained as they pulled up to his place. They had talked about Callen and Tali. Christina leaned across the seat and pressed her lips against him. She had reached her limit. In the heat of the moment, nothing else mattered. Ari kissed her back. It was almost as if time had reset itself nine and a half years to that rainy night.

**A/N: Yeah I just did that. This was not in the original plan, but it works. Take your time and take it in. It will make sense as the stories continue. Also playing with the idea. It's going to be an interesting next few books with what I have planned. PLEASE leave reviews on your reactions to this. I'll take all of them. This add in was really for your reactions to Prospect. I thought it'd be nice to have Ari back in the picture.**


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